Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the latter's state visit to Syria. Photo: Presidential Press.
Venezuela condemned the arrest warrant issued by a French appeals court against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. On Thursday, June 27, the foreign affairs minister of Venezuela, Yván Gil, published a statement from the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela regarding said arrest warrant against the president of the Syrian Arab Republic.
In the statement, the Venezuelan government states that the French court “accuses al-Assad of a series of falsehoods,” categorizing the warrant as “an affront to international law and the Syrian people.”
Venezuela rechaza categóricamente y en los términos más enérgicos la orden de detención contra el presidente de la República Árabe Siria, Bashar al-Asad, emitida por un tribunal de apelaciones de Francia, que le acusa de una serie de falsedades, convirtiéndose en una afrenta a la… pic.twitter.com/6xuvFbfcLk
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) June 27, 2024
The French arrest warrant against al-Assad was first issued last year for his alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in a case filed by anti-Assad groups in France. The French Attorney General’s Office had appealed the warrant on the grounds that the Syrian president enjoys immunity in his capacity as head of state. However, the Court of Appeals discarded this argument in a ruling issued on Wednesday, June 26.
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An unofficial translation of the statement is provided below:
The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically and in the strongest terms condemns the arrest warrant against the president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad, issued by a French appeals court, accusing him of a series of falsehoods, thus causing an affront to international law and the Syrian people.
The government of Venezuela emphasizes that this reckless position of the French colonialist justice system ignores the prerogatives of a sitting Head of State and is contrary to the benefit of procedural immunity that corresponds to him.
Venezuela expresses its solidarity with its brother, President Bashar al-Assad. It urges the international community to reject any excuse for extraterritorial interference against the Syrian people and government. Actions of this nature constitute a clear violation of international law enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and, instead, constitute judicial colonialism.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, true to its Peace Diplomacy, strongly condemns imperialist interventionism and any other threat that intends to legitimize acts that violate the sovereignty of states and governments legitimately constituted under the will of the peoples.
Caracas, June 27, 2024
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF
